Australian three-piece Grey Daturas set out to break all the rules here on third album Return To Disruption. With music formed solely by improvisation, this is a challenging listen, but somehow the blend of styles is gripping – there are touches of everything from Hardcore to free Jazz, with the expected Drone, Ambient and Sludge forming the backbone. Don’t go in expecting an Avant-Garde blur, however; this is the aural version of being buried in wet cement, opening track Beyond And Into The Ultimate driven more by drums than the guitar wall of noise. The band then surprises with the title track being some experimental percussion, before Balance Of Convenience bursts forth, stepping into Noise territory with lots of feedback.

This isn’t pure Drone, but it touches upon it – easiest would be to say that this is the sound of three people creating a racket, but that’s a harsh view to take, as anyone with a bit of experience with this sort of Extreme Doom will be able to cope. Thankfully, there are moments of beauty as well as ugliness, such as the laid-back hum of Answered In The Negative, a ten-minute ramble that’s like Sonic Youth crossed with a chilled-out Cult Of Luna. Undisturbed’s creaking violin has a strange vulnerability, whilst Demarration Disputes/Unity is perhaps the album highlight, hypnotic and subtly psychedelic.

It’s hard to recommend this, as it’s the kind of album that only touches you emotionally, and there can’t be many people out there that want a mixture of this sort. Still, it’s hardly a poor album, and with enough listens it does start to make sense. Be forewarned, though: the rewards aren’t obvious enough to make this a classic of the genre, far from it. For those that want a challenging listen and have the patience to deal with it…

Killing Songs : Beyond And Into The Ultimate, Answered In The Negative, Demarration Disputes/Unity